Tulare SELPA - Autism Resources

Educational Intervention Approaches

Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH)
at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill

This program was founded in 1972 as a statewide autism program that serves people with autistic spectrum disorders of all ages. Regional centers provide regular consultation and training to parents, schools, preschools, daycare centers, and other placements throughout the state. There is one demonstration classroom. TEACCH is based on a structured teaching approach, in which environments are organized with clear, concrete, visual information. Parents are cotherapists and taught strategies for working with their children. Programming is based on individualized assessments of a child’s strengths, learning style, interests, and needs, so that the materials selected, the activities developed, the work system for the child, and the schedule for learning are tailored to this assessment information and to the needs of the family. TEACCH has developed a communication curriculum that makes use of behavioral procedures, with adjustments that incorporate more naturalistic procedures along with alternative communication strategies for nonverbal children (Watson et al., 1989; Marcus et al., 2000).

Website hosting courtesy of
Tulare County Office of Education
Jim Vidak, County Superintendent of Schools